Assessment of the current state of knowledge and risk factors of cervical cancer among women in the Buea Health District, Cameroon

Abstract

Introduction Cervical cancer is a malignant proliferation of the cells of the uterine cervix and can be treated if diagnosed earlier. It is the second most common gynecological malignancy worldwide and the leading cause of cancer associated mortality among women in Africa and Cameroon. This study sort to determine the current state of knowledge of cervical cancer and its risk factors in the Buea Health District of the South West Region of Cameroon. Methods This was a cross-sectional community based survey. We recruited 433 eligible women, in four (4) Health Areas (Molyko, Bolifamba, Muea and Buea Town) of the Buea Health District and used validated and pre-tested questionnaires to collect data. Collected data were keyed into Epi info version 7.2 statistical software and exported to SPSS Version 25 for analysis. Level of significance was set at P-value < 0.05. Results Fifty eight percent (58%) of the participants had good knowledge of cervical cancer. 58.99% (95%CI = 54.30-63.52) had good knowledge on the risk factors of cervical cancer. 40% knew at least one of the following risk factors; cigarette smoking, many sexual partners, family history of cervical cancer, being HIV/AIDS positive and giving birth 5 or more times. There was a significant association, OR = 7.5; 95%CI = 2.14-26.33; P = 0.001; X 2 = 11.4 between having heard of cervical cancer and having “good” knowledge of cervical cancer among women in Buea. Conclusion Most of the women had heard of cervical cancer but the knowledge of the risk factors of cervical cancer among women aged 18-68 years in the Buea Health District is low. We found no association between awareness and knowledge of risk factors among the women.

Challenges and opportunities associated with cervical cancer screening programs in a low income, high HIV prevalence context

“…At the micro-level, women’s knowledge about cervical cancer critically determined attitudes and behaviors towards cervical cancer prevention. Similar to findings in other studies [ 17 – 19 ], women in Limbe were aware of the grave risk that cervical cancer poses for health. They demonstrated high-risk perception by indicating that anyone was at risk given the number of people they know who were diagnosed with or had died from cancer.…”

Awareness and Practices Related to Cervical Cancer among Females in Saudi Arabia

“…This result is close to or lower than what was measured in other Gulf countries such as Oman, Kuwait, and Sharja, with levels of 38.3%, 54%, and 66.2%, respectively [25][26][27]. Countries in Africa showed lower knowledge, as southern and northwest Ethiopia and Cameroon exhibited levels of 26.2%, 30.3%, and 34%, respectively [28][29][30]. On the other hand, some Asian countries had a higher knowledge; for example, levels of 65.7% and 64% were recorded in Vietnam and Indonesia, respectively.…”

Lack of knowledge is the leading key for the growing cervical cancer incidents in Bangladesh: A population based, cross-sectional study

“…with other studies carried out in India, Bhutan, Cameroon and Uganda [12,[18][19][20]. However, an alarming finding of our study was that awareness of HPV as a risk factor was very low in our study population in both rural (15.5%) and urban (32.4%) areas, even though 98% of cervical cancer in Indian region is due to HPV infection [21].…”